We are a little bit behind the times with regard to chat leads at our dealership. We have known for a while that chat leads are a very viable source to get more deals, but for some reason we have dragged our feet a little on getting it set up. We are now in the process of getting everything set up.

     We have decided to make it to where our sales guys aren't doing the actual chatting with the customers. Instead, we hired a company that will handle the leads for us 24/7 and try to set appointments for the sales guys. We decided to go that route for 2 reasons. 1- Our sales guys aren't here during nights & weekends. 2- We were worried about some our guys' computer skills and their ability to chat effectively with our customers. The company sounds pretty legit and don't charge too much so we figured it would be a good route to go.

     The reason for my post is I was wondering if most dealers handle chat leads the same way we are going to. Or do most have their sales guys do it? Let me know what you guys recommend based off your past experience.

     We are a little bit behind the times with regard to chat leads at our dealership. We have known for a while that chat leads are a very viable source to get more deals, but for some reason we have dragged our feet a little on getting it set up. We are now in the process of getting everything set up.

     We have decided to make it to where our sales guys aren't doing the actual chatting with the customers. Instead, we hired a company that will handle the leads for us 24/7 and try to set appointments for the sales guys. We decided to go that route for 2 reasons. 1- Our sales guys aren't here during nights & weekends. 2- We were worried about some our guys' computer skills and their ability to chat effectively with our customers. The company sounds pretty legit and don't charge too much so we figured it would be a good route to go.

     The reason for my post is I was wondering if most dealers handle chat leads the same way we are going to. Or do most have their sales guys do it? Let me know what you guys recommend based off your past experience.

     We have been with a company for many years that has offered a program to make our extended service contracts refundable in the event the customer doesn't make a claim against the warranty. It has been a great program for many years and has helped us to sell extended warranties at a pretty high level. Unfortunately, this company has now lost its backing and is closing up shop.

     The reason for my post is two-fold. 1- I want to know if there is any other company out there that offers a product to make service contracts refundable. They need to be a reputable, well-established company in order for us to consider them for the fact that we don't want to deal with this again.  We have done a little bit of research on our end and couldn't really find any company that seemed like a good candidate. 2- I want to know if the majority of the dealerships out there use such a product and offer refundable warranties. We have been selling our warranties that way the entire 9 years I have worked at this store. When I did finance, the main part of my warranty pitch was explaining how great the refundability was and I think it really helped me be successful as a finance manager. I couldn't imagine selling warranties and never being able to make them refundable at the end of the term.

     Let me know what you guys think. We would love to get signed up with a comparable company so we can sell warranties the way we know how. Otherwise, we may have to change our warranty pitch and re-train our finance department. Any input would be great.

     We have been with a company for many years that has offered a program to make our extended service contracts refundable in the event the customer doesn't make a claim against the warranty. It has been a great program for many years and has helped us to sell extended warranties at a pretty high level. Unfortunately, this company has now lost its backing and is closing up shop.

     The reason for my post is two-fold. 1- I want to know if there is any other company out there that offers a product to make service contracts refundable. They need to be a reputable, well-established company in order for us to consider them for the fact that we don't want to deal with this again.  We have done a little bit of research on our end and couldn't really find any company that seemed like a good candidate. 2- I want to know if the majority of the dealerships out there use such a product and offer refundable warranties. We have been selling our warranties that way the entire 9 years I have worked at this store. When I did finance, the main part of my warranty pitch was explaining how great the refundability was and I think it really helped me be successful as a finance manager. I couldn't imagine selling warranties and never being able to make them refundable at the end of the term.

     Let me know what you guys think. We would love to get signed up with a comparable company so we can sell warranties the way we know how. Otherwise, we may have to change our warranty pitch and re-train our finance department. Any input would be great.

We currently use Vauto to manage our used car inventory and absolutely love it. To anyone who is unfamiliar, it is a program that is used to manage inventory, track turn and market day supply on every vehicle in inventory, and compares your price to every "like mine" vehicle out on the market. It is a great tool and has helped us be very successful with our used car department.

With that said, we are having some issues with our new car department and are considering making some changes. We were hoping to find a similar tool to vauto that we can use for our new car inventory. The most important criteria we are looking for is market day supply info and a price comparison function.

Is anyone aware of a company that offers a product close to what we want? I contacted vauto and they don't have anything available for new. Let me know if there is anything that you guys are aware of. Thanks!

We currently use Vauto to manage our used car inventory and absolutely love it. To anyone who is unfamiliar, it is a program that is used to manage inventory, track turn and market day supply on every vehicle in inventory, and compares your price to every "like mine" vehicle out on the market. It is a great tool and has helped us be very successful with our used car department.

With that said, we are having some issues with our new car department and are considering making some changes. We were hoping to find a similar tool to vauto that we can use for our new car inventory. The most important criteria we are looking for is market day supply info and a price comparison function.

Is anyone aware of a company that offers a product close to what we want? I contacted vauto and they don't have anything available for new. Let me know if there is anything that you guys are aware of. Thanks!

     Like everyone knows, the finance department is arguably the most important department of the dealership. Dealerships are relying more and more for strong #'s from their finance department in order to be successful. With that said, the GM has asked me to spend time with our 2 finance managers and evaluate the entire department. I am going to review their #'s over the last 12 months and find areas where we can improve the department both in overall gross and product penetration. I'm happy to spend as much time as is needed with them due to the fact that I get paid on the overall gross generated from the sales department. If they do better, I do better.

     With that said, I know what we expect from them is a very lofty but attainable goal.  The reason I know our goals are attainable is because I was able to do them on a fairly regular basis. I did finance when times were better and banks were easier to deal with. So I'm wondering if it is a totally different game now and if the #'s that we did back in the day are still attainable.

Here's what we expect out of them:

1. Warranty penetration: 55% with $1000 in markup
2. Gap penetration: 30% with $400 in markup
3. Credit life penetration: 12% with approx $150 in markup
4. Chemical penetration: 25% with $200 in markup
5. Etch penetration: 85% with $261 in markup
6. Finance penetration: 75% with approx $350 reserve

In total, the goal is $1500 per car. That is new and used combined.

     I was wondering if those #'s are attainable or if the goals need to be modified due to current market conditions. Are there dealers who's finance guys are still putting up these kind of #'s?? Let me know

     Like everyone knows, the finance department is arguably the most important department of the dealership. Dealerships are relying more and more for strong #'s from their finance department in order to be successful. With that said, the GM has asked me to spend time with our 2 finance managers and evaluate the entire department. I am going to review their #'s over the last 12 months and find areas where we can improve the department both in overall gross and product penetration. I'm happy to spend as much time as is needed with them due to the fact that I get paid on the overall gross generated from the sales department. If they do better, I do better.

     With that said, I know what we expect from them is a very lofty but attainable goal.  The reason I know our goals are attainable is because I was able to do them on a fairly regular basis. I did finance when times were better and banks were easier to deal with. So I'm wondering if it is a totally different game now and if the #'s that we did back in the day are still attainable.

Here's what we expect out of them:

1. Warranty penetration: 55% with $1000 in markup
2. Gap penetration: 30% with $400 in markup
3. Credit life penetration: 12% with approx $150 in markup
4. Chemical penetration: 25% with $200 in markup
5. Etch penetration: 85% with $261 in markup
6. Finance penetration: 75% with approx $350 reserve

In total, the goal is $1500 per car. That is new and used combined.

     I was wondering if those #'s are attainable or if the goals need to be modified due to current market conditions. Are there dealers who's finance guys are still putting up these kind of #'s?? Let me know

     We have been going back and forth lately on what a detailers responsibility should be. I am the used car manager at a franchise Ford store and used cars are very critical to our success. We have had tons of issues with keeping our display at a level where we have enough cars to sell. The main reason for the lack of displayed vehicles is the delay with our detailer in getting cars out.

     We just recently hired a part time detailer to help out and we have definitely made an improvement. Even still, I feel like we aren't near as efficient as we could and should be. The reason I think we aren't very efficient is because we require our detailers to do a lot of things other than just detail the car. The GM of the store says that it is their responsibility to deliver a completely finished, perfect product. So, aside from the detail they have to: Buff the car when applicable, put on etch sticker, put on dealer logo and plate frame, gas the car, bookout the car, print carfax, print buyers guide and kelly retail sticker, sticker and park the car on the lot. All that probably takes a good 20-30 minutes to complete.

     I think we should have our lot techs take care of all the extracurricular stuff to free up time for our detailers in order for them to be 100% efficient. They have plenty of time to take care of those items so I don't think there is any reason why they can't help us out with that. The only negative with my plan is that it may be difficult to track down a lot tech to finish up the process. My rebuttal to that objection is that we can easily institute a process to where the lot techs are continuously checking to see which car needs to be finished up. That way the detailer doesn't waste any time looking for the lot tech.

     Anyway, I feel like our system is somewhat broke. We are getting into the busier months and I feel like the more dialed in this process is, the more successful we will be. Used is everything right now and we need to make sure we are on our A game. Any suggestions? Do most dealerships require as much as we do out of their detailers?

     We have been going back and forth lately on what a detailers responsibility should be. I am the used car manager at a franchise Ford store and used cars are very critical to our success. We have had tons of issues with keeping our display at a level where we have enough cars to sell. The main reason for the lack of displayed vehicles is the delay with our detailer in getting cars out.

     We just recently hired a part time detailer to help out and we have definitely made an improvement. Even still, I feel like we aren't near as efficient as we could and should be. The reason I think we aren't very efficient is because we require our detailers to do a lot of things other than just detail the car. The GM of the store says that it is their responsibility to deliver a completely finished, perfect product. So, aside from the detail they have to: Buff the car when applicable, put on etch sticker, put on dealer logo and plate frame, gas the car, bookout the car, print carfax, print buyers guide and kelly retail sticker, sticker and park the car on the lot. All that probably takes a good 20-30 minutes to complete.

     I think we should have our lot techs take care of all the extracurricular stuff to free up time for our detailers in order for them to be 100% efficient. They have plenty of time to take care of those items so I don't think there is any reason why they can't help us out with that. The only negative with my plan is that it may be difficult to track down a lot tech to finish up the process. My rebuttal to that objection is that we can easily institute a process to where the lot techs are continuously checking to see which car needs to be finished up. That way the detailer doesn't waste any time looking for the lot tech.

     Anyway, I feel like our system is somewhat broke. We are getting into the busier months and I feel like the more dialed in this process is, the more successful we will be. Used is everything right now and we need to make sure we are on our A game. Any suggestions? Do most dealerships require as much as we do out of their detailers?